SAN GABRIEL, CA – San Gabriel Unified School District has selected Yolanda Mendoza to serve as deputy superintendent of educational services for the 2018-19 year. Mendoza, who has worked in San Gabriel Unified as the assistant superintendent of human resources since July 2017, brings more than 40 years of education experience to her new role.

“Yolanda Mendoza is a seasoned professional who has brought decades of valuable education knowledge and experience to San Gabriel Unified,” SGUSD Superintendent Dr. John Pappalardo said. “We look forward to working with her in this new capacity over the next year.”

Mendoza holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Cal State Los Angeles and a Master of Arts in educational administration from Pepperdine University. Her education career began in Montebello Unified School District, where she taught kindergarten through fourth grade, as well as Spanish in middle school, high school and junior college.

She later worked as a counselor, assistant principal and principal at school districts across Southern California before joining the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Office of School Improvement and Reform.

There, Mendoza served on four review teams that audited the state’s low-performing schools and worked with them to reform curriculum and improve management. She was also designated an external evaluator by the California Department of Education, a role in which she collaborated with principals and school site action teams at schools that did not meet state-mandated growth targets.

Mendoza then worked as the chief human resource and personnel officer at several school districts over 20 years before coming to San Gabriel Unified.

Washington Elementary Principal Ross Perry will take over Mendoza’s vacated position as SGUSD’s assistant superintendent of human resources for 2018-19.